The Journey to the Sunlands
by Bauglir100
Summary: The first installment of "Stories of the Forgotten South", a series set in the Southlands of Arda. 1: Who will Men of the West meet in the Great Forest of Far Harad? Canon, Non-Canon  HoME, MERP, etc. , and Original content. Feel free to read and review.
1. The Shadows in the Trees

It was nightfall when the storm had cleared, the crew of the _Daurin_ returned to the top deck after tending to the damages caused by the high winds. Eventually, they noticed that they were near a land they were not familiar with. Its shore was obscured by a thick canopy of dark trees.

"Where are we?" asked a mariner.

"I do not know." said another, "But that squall stirred us too far off course."

"But in what direction do you suppose it blew us in?" said a third.

"South." said the second.

"South?" repeated the other mariners, in horror and dismay.

"Aye."

"What land is that then?"

"I do not know. But I fear we have-"

But the mariner's words were cut short by a sharp wail coming from the shore. One of the mariners loaded an arrow into his crossbow, knelt by the port side of the ship, and aimed towards the nearby shore. But he did not fire, he made a small yelp and jumped to his feet. A sound like a low cackle came from the shore, but none heeded it.

"What happened, Mabras?" said the first mariner.

"I think I saw something," said Mabras, turning to face his companions. "probably just an animal. If it was an animal though, it was the most horrible I had ever seen. It was massive, and it seemed to be peering at me through the trees on the shoreline. It looked almost like a Man." But as he looked at the rest of the crew, he had a visible sense of dread in his eyes.

"Do you suppose it was an Ape?" said the second mariner, "We may be near Far Harad. Perhaps it was one of those 'Apes' mentioned in the old tales?"

"I do not think so, Neldor." said Mabras, wearily. "I am not aware of the tales, but what I saw was probably not an Ape." A moment of silence followed.

"We are nearing the shore," said the third mariner, "What shall we do?"

"We must find a way back to Pelagir." said Neldor. "And the ship is in no condition to sail back without further maintenance. We may find assistance in that land. Look! I see a fire over the trees! Perhaps there are Men on that island!"

The rest of the crew ran up to the port side of the ship, including the pilot and the captain, and indeed, they saw the light of a fire behind the canopy of trees.

"Prepare to dock!" shouted the captain, "But be cautious, for we do not know if these folk are friend or foe!"

In minutes, the _Daurin_ was anchored, and the crew came and took weapons from their quarters. The captain sent two Men to tend to the ship, and four to search for food. Neldor, Mabras, and three other mariners went forth into the trees to investigate the fires and whereabouts of the dark figure in the trees. Mabras, was uneasy about traversing the treeline, but agreed to enter, due to his friendship with Neldor.

Neldor and Mabras walked through the jungle, swords in hand, their companions following suit. They heard sounds from animals none of them, save Neldor, had ever heard before. His companions looked around in the dark jungle, until when they walked two-hundred yards from the shore, Neldor spoke.

"I recognize this land now." said he to Mabras. "We are in Dark Harad. We are on the edge of the Great Forest of the South."

"You are sure?" asked Mabras.

"Aye." replied Neldor. "Look over there."

Mabras looked where Neldor distinguished, and cried out, pointing.

Neldor's companions walked over to where he had pointed, shouted and jumped away, for to their shock, a large, black Ape lay dead in the undergrowth.


	2. Strange Enemies or Stranger Allies?

The five Men looked at the body of the Ape. It had been slashed, stabbed, and mangled by someone. Rips, bruises, and twisted limbs, and a severely broken neck that had bled down onto its chest.

"What could have done such a horrible thing to this poor brute?" said one of the mariners, with sadness in his voice.

"Perhaps this was what made the wailing sound." said Mabras.

"But what made that cackling noise is another story." said Neldor, cautiously.

"Do you think that this is what you saw, Mabras?" asked the first speaking mariner.

"Probably not, Cadril." said Mabras, "What I saw was larger than this Ape and had luminous eyes."

"No matter, we must continue on to search for the fire." said Neldor.

The five mariners marched on at least a league from the shore before they came close to where the fire had burnt. The Moon was now waxing into the midnight position, and the smell of cooked meat was in the air.

"It would seem," said Cadril, "that whoever set up that fire…has good skill in cooking."

They reached a clearing, and were aghast at what they saw. Several fire pits dotted the vast clearing, and around each of them, black shapes were running and dancing around them, . But these shapes were not of Men, but of-

"_Ogres!_" uttered Neldor to his frightened company. "We must hide!"

There were scores of the abhorrent creatures in the clearing, standing around the fires, which illuminated the land under the black, starless sky. The ogres stood nine feet tall, were clad in garments of mesh, and bore crude weapons in their hands. They had massive, razor-sharp teeth, and dark gray, nigh black skin. They did not seem to notice the comparatively smaller Men that hid in the shadows outside their campfires' light, as they seemed pre-occupied with each other.

"Perhaps the slain Ape was _their_ doing?" said Cadril.

"One could only wish." denied Mabras.

They heard the Ogres nearest their hiding spot speaking to each other. They seemed to be speaking in broken Westron.

"What happen? What happen? Talk, or I kill you!" shouted one ogre, smashing a fist upon the head of another.

"What you talking, Melbrik?" replied the beaten ogre, scratching the bruise on his scalp.

"You know what I talk, Gunglip!" said Melbrik, angrily. "You let it run! You let it die! Poor, poor, beastie-thing."

"Oh, _that_ what you talk?" said Gunglip. "Why you want beastie-thing? I not know where it go. Do not remember it. All I say."

Then Melbrik began wailing loudly. "Where beastie-thing go? Where it go? Where it go?"

Suddenly Gunglip turned and faced the direction where Neldor's company was hiding.

"Someone there! Come out!" shouted Gunglip, pointing in the direction of the mariners' hiding place.

It was at that moment that the mariners subsided their fear and disgust towards the Ogres, and decided to walk into the light. The ogres were surprised by the new arrivals, and ran up to meet them, with their weapons drawn forward. But Melbrik and Gunglip ran ahead of them and shook their comrades off.

"Not them. Maybe friendly." said Melbrik.

This seemed particularly unusual coming from the _ogres_.

"'Ay!" shouted Cadril to Melbrik. "Ogre, was your 'beastie-thing' an Ape? For that was what we found!"

"Uh!" said Melbrik in response. "Beastie-thing was Ape. You know where beastie-thing is?"

"Aye." said Neldor. "But alas, your 'beastie-thing' has died."

"What happen?" asked Gunglip.

"We don't know, we found it dead under the trees. We were on your way to this area, when we came across a dead ape. We do not know what killed it, though."

"Take us there!" demanded Melbrik, distraught. "We follow!"

"Very well." said Mabras.

And thus, the five mariners walked back through the trees, followed by Melbrik and Gunglip. The other ogres remained in the clearing, gawking at their comrades and the new arrivals, as they vanished into the Great Forest.

In the time it took to walk to the spot where Neldor discovered the dead ape, Cadril had the opportunity to speak with Gunglip.

"…We came here against our wishes, as a storm blew us off course, and wound up nigh this land. The rest of our crew is tending to the ship. But we have no knowledge on the whereabouts of this area. Where are we?"

"Big Forest." said Gunglip, bluntly.

"I never could have imagined." snarked Mabras.

"Big Forest in Southlands." continued Gunglip. "We not know much ourselves; Big Queen made _Sarquindi _come here."

"Who is this 'Big Queen' of whom you speak?" asked Cadril.

"Big Queen rule over Southlands." said Gunglip. "_Sarquindi_ are Big Queen's warriors. Best warriors. Big Queen sent war band here."

"But why?"

"There something in Forest. Deeper in forest. Big Queen interested in it. What 'something' is, I-" Then it seemed that the ogre remembered something. "-No! No reason."

"But you just-"

"I not say Big Queen wanted something…I say 'Big Queen give _Sarquindi_ leave.' We take break!"

"Very well, Gunglip." said Cadril, eyeing the ogre suspiciously.

An hour passed, and they finally reached the spot where the mariners found the dead ape. When Melbrik saw it, he was beside himself. He ran to his dead pet, picked it up, held it in his thick, padded arms, and bawled wildly.


	3. Maglor

I was deep in a violent, ugly dream. People were dying all around the barren field, and massive, black creatures were swarming around me. The Sun was obscured by black clouds, and the red figures of warriors were attempting the breach the circle from both inside and out, but to no avail. The black things were gnashing their sharp teeth and gripping crude weapons in their claw-like hands. They were poised to attack.

But then the creatures scattered, shrieking as they did so. I stood still as if struck dumb, when I heard a dreadful voice rise up from the South, singing:

_Foolish traveler, far from home,_

_To walk in land where monsters roam._

_Punishment will come to those who wander,_

_From realms in the North for regions yonder._

_Blood shall gush from your Mouth,_

_for you defy the Shadow in the South._

_Unknown to Melkor, King of the North,_

_Servant of Ungoliant, I come forth._

_Behold the Darkness of the Unlight,_

_That forever hinders all sunlight._

As the song ended, I was suddenly aware that a dark shape was darting towards me. It was wielding a hideous blade in one hand and a jagged knife in the other. As the thing ran, Darkness clouded my vision, save for the thing with the blade. The thing slashed my arm with the crude blade, when it was within arm's reach of me.

I woke up quickly, still feeling the pain of the wound, but did not scream; the pain left me within seconds. As the pain left me, I was aware of the blazing hot Sun hanging in the Sky. I was laying on a large stone in the heart of a massive, deep pit.

There were hundreds of corpses rotting in the pit about the great stone. Some clad in crimson robes, others in sable mail. Dreadful weapons and bits of mail littered the barren land around the War Pit.

Two banners stood parallel across from each other on the edges of the pit: The Black Serpent, and the Spider's Crown. I myself was clad in brown raiment with a dark blue cloak. I wore a red belt with a short sword in its scabbard.

"What is this horrid place?" I uttered to myself. "Why am I lying among these hideous corpses?"

But then I remembered it all: The Haradrim. The Sarqindi. The Battle of the Blinding Rush. Five hundred against three-thousand strong. The mass grave. The Pit of the Dead. The funerals that never were. Betrayal. Murder. The madness. The bloodshed. The screams drowned out by the great horns of war. How the earth rumbled under the feet of the great beasts of Harad! How it reminded me of the Great Battle and the War of Wrath.

I climbed out of the Pit, and looked down into it. I wept silently, and walked away from that horrible place. I heeded the banners of the fallen no further. I kept walking, mourning the casualties of the battle. It was not until the Sun finally set in the West that I stopped walking. I looked back across the stretches of barren land, and then forward. I stood along a long, dark shore. I could see the eaves of a great forest further away from it.

The Sea was dark, and waves crashed violently against the beaches. Sea-birds were nestled along them. I continued to walk along the shore, singing a song of mourning for the unknown folk that were slain in the Pit, and left to decay. I had come close to the eaves of the Forest when suddenly my singing was hindered by an abrupt increase in chatter from mysterious figures inside the Forest. I saw them, seven figures there were: Five around my size, but two monstrous. One was holding something in its arms, sobbing. I share his grief.

I walked towards the sobbing figure in the distance, keeping to the shore. I suddenly came upon a Man running along the shore towards me. He seemed afraid of something, yet was awestruck at my presence. The Man was wearing white garments, with a brown vest and black boots. A strange device like a bow was slung to his back.

"Greetings, stranger," I said to him, as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Forgive me," said the Man. "I must ask for your name, if you would please. I am Bregus, mariner of Pelagir."

"I am Maglor, son of Fëanor." said I.

"Do you live in these lands?" asked Bregus.

"Nay, I have no residence, no dwelling."

Bregus looked at me awestruck.

"Why, aren't you…?" he said. "An Elf? Forgive me if I am wrong, but I have never seen an Elf in life. I have only heard-"

Then the sobbing sound became louder, and we stopped talking.

"I must go now." I said. "We shall meet again."

"Very well, Maglor." said Bregus.

I ran towards the loud crying sound. I came into a clearing where five Men stood with two Ogres. I saw that one was carrying a dead Ape in his arms.

"What has happened here?" I said aloud to the group.

They all turned to look at me. Melbrik stopped sobbing, lay the dead Ape down, and gripped the weapon that was slung on his back.

"No, Melbrik." said Gunglip to his distraught comrade. "He not foe."

"Welcome, stranger!" shouted Neldor.

I walked towards the dead ape, and knelt down beside it. But before I said anything, we heard loud rustling around us, a loud yell, several whoops, and many clashes of metal.

I drew my sword out, and we all grouped together in a circle around the dead ape, looking outwards into the Forest.

I heard Bregus shouting "To arms! To arms! Pelagir! Pelagir", joined by accompanying shouts of "Gondor! Gondor!" and the sound of darts and arrows whizzing through the forest canopy filled the air. Several dark figures dropped dead from the trees between the clearing and the shoreline. From the other side of the clearing, they heard a great war-horn blast wildly across the Forest, answered by another further East. Ogres stampeded through the trees around the clearing and fought with small dark figures from the tree-tops. The combined chaos of the mariners shouting, the Ogres yelling, the war-horns blaring, and the unknown forces whooping woke the entire Forest up. The earth rumbled, hundreds of birds flew out of the trees into the dark Sky, and wild beasts were stampeding out of the Great Forest.

Melbrik dropped his somber mood and howled with glee.

"Sarqindi! To me! To me!" hollered the Ogre, running towards the battle.

"Must I always contend with this madness?" I said to myself.

"Be thankful you are not in Gondor right now." said Cadril, gripping his long sword.


End file.
